Death of A Salesman Character Analysis
Willy and Nora: Tragic Heroes or Home-wreckers? No one has a perfect life. Despite what Aaron Spelling and his friends in the media might project to society today, no one's life is perfect. Everyone has conflicts that they must face sooner or later. The ways in which people deal with these conflicts can be just as varied as the people themselves. Some procrastinate and ignore their problems as long as they can, while others attack problems to get them out of the way as soon as possible. The Lowman and Helmer families have a number of problems that they deal with in different ways, which proves their similarities and differences. Both Willy Loman, the protagonist of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and Nora Helmer, protagonist of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House experience an epiphany where they realize that they were not the person the thought they were: while Willy's catharsis brings about his death, Nora's brings her to a new life; hers. Both character's flaws bring about their departure from their respective families as well. They are both overly concerned with the appearances they and their families present to society: as a result they both project false images to others. From their appearance, both s
We realize that she had not been living her life at all; rather the life that her husband wanted her to live. eem to be involved in stable marriages and appear to be going places. Although it may appear on the surface to be a selfish and coldhearted move to spite his family, he actually did it so that his family may live a better life with money he thinks they will receive from his life insurance policy. For Willy this means death, for Nora, the start of (a new) life. To cope with the harshness outside of this doll's house, she immediately retreats back inside and attempts to distract herself with Christmas decorations (Ibsen 1133). All that Willy ever wanted in life was to be "well-liked" and for his sons to follow in his footsteps. While Nora does not work in the business world, (few woman, if any did over 120 years ago) her failure to take care of her responsibilities becomes quite evident as well. Willy's job as a traveling salesman seems stable (although we never know what it is he sells) when he tells his family that he "knocked 'em cold in Providence, slaughtered 'em in Boston" (Miller 1228). Not only does Willy lie about his performance on the job, he lies about his "faulty car" as well. This is ultimately the reason / situation that helps Nora realize that she must leave her family in order to begin to live her own life. Both Willy and Nora's lies and deceitfulness frustrate their families to the point where each protagonist much leave their family; although Willy's departure is his death, Nora's is the start of her real life. He tells his family that the Studebaker keeps malfunctioning when in reality we find out through Linda that he has been deliberately trying to kill himself. When Tourvald opens the letter and finds out about her crime, he goes ballistic, and cannot believe that his own wife could be capable of such a crime. If that's not enough to convince readers of his failure on the job, the fact that he gets fired after working for the same company for 36 years cements his incompetency in the business world to readers. Both main characters also use an escape mechanism to leave reality when they realize that their lives are on the wrong path.
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